Thomas barrett



(No Model.) T. BARRETT.

BOOT' TREEING MACHINE.

No. 244,423. Patented July 19,1881.

WITNE55E5- UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE.

THOMAS BARRETT, OF BOSTON, MASS, ASSIGNOR TO THE COPELAND BOOT TREEING MACHINE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONN.

BOOT-TREEING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,423, dated July 19, 1881.

' Application filed June 10, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS BARRETT, of Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement'in BootTreeing Machines, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speci- IO fication, in explaining its'nature, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention; Fig. 2, a view part in front elevation and part in section Fig. 3, a rear elevation ofa portion of the mechanism hereinafter described; Figs. 1 4 and 5, enlarged views, in perspective, of the rubbing, smoothing, and finishing pad, and the manner of holding or supporting it.

This invention embraces means whereby a succession of rotating, working, smoothing, or

2o finishing pads are brought in contact with the outer surface of the boot in treeing to fit it to the boot-tree and finish it thereon, and also the combination of a boot-tree and means for re volving it with one or more series of the suc- 2 5 'cessively-presented pads.

In the drawings, A represents the 'boottree. It may be provided with any suitable means for separating or expanding the twoparts for stretching the boot, and it is partially revolved o forward and back by means of the short shaft a, which has a bearing in the post or'upright a, and which also supports the boot-tree in a horizontal position, the gear-wheel a on the end of said shaft, and the segment-gear a upon 3 5 the upper end of the arm a, which gear meshes with the gear-wheel. The arm a is pivoted at a has the slot a and is reciprocated forward and back by means of the pin a" upon the revolving disk a, the said pin entering the 4.0 slot to, and playing up and down therein as the disk revolves. The disk is at the end of the counter-shaft a"; is revolved by the pulley a and a belt connecting it with. the main shaft.

The pad 13 may be of any suitable shape or 5 of any desirable material; and I mention wood, glass, leather, hard rubber, and metal as some of the materials of which it may be made. In shape, preferably, it should be somewhat concave from end to end, to approximate the con vex surface of the boot-tree; but I do not confine myself to any especial shape. The pads are arranged singly or in groups upon a belt,

(J, in successive order, and they are secured thereto by means of a spring arm or support,

I), which is riveted to the belt at one end only, 5 as represented in Fig. 4, or at both ends, as represented in Fig, 5, in which case the support should be provided with slots, to allow the spring to yield. Any other suitable yielding support for' the pads may, however, be employed, and in some instances the pads may be fastened directly to the belt, although I deem it preferable in most instances to have yielding supports interposed between the belt and the pads, in order that the pads may accommodate themselves automatically more readily to the varying conformation of the 'surface of the boot.

As above stated, one or more series of revolving pads may be used, and when two are employed I prefer the construction and arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and-Z-that is, one set of pads above the boot-tree and another set below, the upper set being adapted to be moved horizontally and vertically in relation to the boot-tree by hand, and the lower set being adapted to work entirely automatically. The belt 0 of the upper series of pads is revolved by means of pulleys o c, which have bearings at either end of the expans'ible conneeting rod orbar c and the shaft 0 which furnishes the bearing for the pulley 0 also secures the connecting-rod c to the swinging frame 0, which hangs or is suspended upon the shaft 0 The rotation is communicated to the belt 0 bymeans of the driven pulley c on the shaft 0 the belt 0 and the drivingpulley c on the shaft 0 The lower set or series of pads are borne or carried by the belt 0. The pads are secured thereto iuthe manner v In operation the boot is adjusted upon the boot-tree in the ordinary manner, and the boot stretched by the separation of its parts. The pads are then brought in contact with the outer surface of the boot, and are caused to move from the toe or bottom portion of the boot toward or to the top in successive order, thereby rubbing, smoothing, finishing, polishing, and completing the fitting, surfacing, and finishing of the boot.

Where one belt only is used the boot-treeis entirely revolved in relation thereto, and preferably the belt is adapted to be guided or placed by hand, as described. Where two belts are used the boot-tree is not provided with entire revolution, butis partially revolved forward and back, and, in addition to the handguided upper belt and its pads, a substantially stationary automatic lower belt and its pads are used, in which case the upper pads are arranged to finish the front portion of the boot and the foot portion, and the lower pads are adapted to finish the sides and the back portion.

In some instances it may be desirable to hang the suspending frame from a shaft more directly over the upper portion of the boot-tree than is represented by the drawings, in order that the pads may reach the work upon the toe portion of the boot and continue their contact with the boot to its top; and it maybe advisable to fit to the sole of the boot a frame or extension of the same size or a little larger than the sole of the boot, upon which the pads may first come in contact, and from which they may ride upon the surface of the foot portion of the boot, thereby preventing their being caught upon the edge of the sole and inj urin git.

I do not confine myself to the direction of movement of the pads herein described. Neither do I confine myself to using one line of pads only, nor to the regular order shown, but may use as many lines as desired, and may arrange them upon the belt in any desirable manner without departing from the spirit of this invention.

It is obvious that a reciprocating movement canbeprovided the belt, in which case the pads would havea reciprocating movement upon the boot, and not a movementin one direction only; and when a reciprocating movement is emare moved in that direction in relation to the boot-tree.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. In a boot-treeing machine, the combination of a boot-tree with a series of yielding, fitting, smoothing, orfinishingpads, B, mounted on a belt and adapted to be successively brought in contact with the boot by the movement of the belt, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination of a boot-tree, means for revolving it wholly or in part, with a revolving belt, a series of yielding pads, B, upon said belt, and meansforrevolvin g the belt, whereby the pads are brought successively in contact with the boot upon the boot-tree, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination of the boot-tree, means for revolving it wholly or in part, the belt 0, supported by a swinging frame, adjustable vertically and horizontally in relation to the boot-tree, and the pads B, fastened to said belt and operated thereby, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The combination of a boot-tree adapted to be revolved wholly or in part, the handguided belt 0, and the pads B secured thereto, and the belt 0 and its pads B,all arranged in relation to the boottree to operate substantially as described.

5. The combination of the yielding pulleys 0 0, the belt 0, the pads B, and means for revolving the belt, all substantially as described.

6. The combination of a pad, B, a belt, and an interposed yielding connection for fastening or securing the pad to the belt, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

THOMAS BARRETT.

Witnesses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, W. G. Foes. 

